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Tachyons, Backwards Causation, and Freedom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Paul Fitzgerald
Paul Fitzgerald*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Extract

‘Tachyons’ are hypothetical faster-than-light particles. Their existence has been suspected and sought, on the ground that they appear to be compatible with the laws of nature, particularly with Special Relativity, and so there is at least some likelihood that they exist. That last mad inferential leap is justified by the experience of particle physicists, summed up in ‘Gell-Mann's totalitarian principle’ that “whatever is not forbidden is compulsory.” Experimental searches made so far have failed to find them.

The classical reason for ruling out faster-than-light particles has been that according to Special Relativity an infinite force would be required to accelerate a particle up to and beyond the speed of light. For if the particle's rest mass mo is greater than zero, then its relativistic mass, given by the formula

approaches infinity as the particle's velocity v approaches c, the speed of light.

Type
Contributed Papers
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1970 , 1970 , pp. 415 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1970

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